The invention relates to a use of a mixture of calcium hydroxide and oleum pedum tauri and to the promotion of collagen reformation in vivo.
Bone consists to about 60% of mineral substance (hydroxyapatite, calcium phosphate) and to about 40% of organic material, in particular collagen. The metabolism of bone is mainly determined by the interplay of bone-synthesizing cells (osteoblasts) and bone-degrading cells (osteoclasts and osteocytes), the activities of which are in a balanced ratio in healthy bone.
Bone formation can be divided into two main phases, (a) the synthesis of organic tissue (collagen synthesis) and (b) the incorporation of mineral substance into the given organic matrix which follows and is mediated by so-called matrix vesicles.
The connective tissue protein collagen makes up the largest portion of the organic substance of the bone. The protein consists of three helically wound polypeptide chains, the amino acid composition of which can vary, which leads to a variety of individual types of collagen. An extremely high mechanical strength of the collagen fibers is common to all types of collagen. This strength is based on a variety of intra- and intermolecular bonds in the collagen fibers, which in this manner form the tight collagen fiber network of the connective tissue. Osseous tissue--as already mentioned--is formed into this network by incorporation of mineral substances (hydroxyapatite and calcium phosphate). Any bone synthesis as a result of growth or regeneration processes is preceded by collagen biosynthesis.
Up until now, in the case of bone traumas of any origin the bone reformation process was left to itself, if need be supported with antibiotics and corticoids, in order to prevent a possible risk of infection interfering with the healing process.
Several factors have also been described which can affect the formation and regeneration of bone. They are mainly physical factors (mechanical and electrical forces), hormones (for example parathyroid hormone, calcitonin, insulin, glucocorticoids, 1,25(OH).sub.2 D3) and an inexactly defined group of growth factors having protein character (osteoquinine, osteonectin, "insulin-like growth factors")--cf. S. Wallach, L. V. Avioli, J. H. Carstens jun "Factors in Bone Formation", Calcified Tissue International 45: 4-6 (1989). The influence of the hydrogen ion concentration (pH) on the metabolic processes in bone regeneration has still not been adequately investigated to date.